Bonfire

Aldric awoke to a brush on his shoulder.

It was Nephis.

"Aldric, it's your turn."

Wiping the mask of sleep he felt on his eyes, he stood up and walked towards the watchpoint that they set up.

It was in front of the bonfire 5 meters away near the edge of the marble arch. Allowing them to respond to any dangers quickly.

He felt someone behind him so he turned back.

"You can go back to sleep. You know?"

Nephis looked at Aldric with thoughts clearly in her head. It seemed that she had something to talk about.

She sat down near him. An arm's length away.

"I've told you that this expedition is for an item that will help me take over the Bright Castle and kill Gunlaug. When I do."

She spoke in absolute confidence as if it had already happened. 

"When I do, there will be a battle for power in the castle. Different factions will fight for dominance, and I will be at the forefront of it. Will you join us in that battle and what awaits for us in the crimson spire after?"

Nephis used this conversation as an opportunity to learn of Aldric's intentions after this expedition. She knew that he was not in her camp completely and only worked together when their goals aligned. As well as to learn something else.

"So long as your focus and ambition is on returning to the waking world, then you will see me beside you."

Aldric spoke in an assured voice.

She stared at the young teenager whose allegiance she did not know of and studied his face.

Thinking back to the conversation with Sunny when he left her cohort. Nephis looked at the clear night sky without a star in sight.

She relied on what she had learned from Cassie these past few months.

"Is there any other way for this to end? for me to drown that castle in blood and lead a death march to the Spire?"

Nephis threw this question in the air, waiting for an answer that could change what awaited her.

Aldric looked straight in her clear grey eyes and thought.

'I guess that conversation with Sunny stuck in her mind. Is this how she resolved herself to not accomplish her goals in a way that was below her? Like when she ordered Sunny to return to the waking world in her place.'

Aldric was silent for a moment. All they could hear was the soft movement of the dark sea lurching around the arch.

"If you were not here, then I would be where you are. I would stop at nothing to return back to the waking world. To accomplish my goals. The Castle. The Spire. The Host. Nothing would get in my way."

Aldric spoke in a casual voice. As if he was stating that the sky was blue. All with a dilated pupil staring at the girl.

His demeanour shifted slightly. His ego was visible to anyone who looked.

"However, if what it took for me to accomplish my goals was to become a version of me I wouldn't recognise, then what would be the point? It just means I wasn't strong enough to do what I set out to do as I am."

He spoke shamelessly.

"The question is how much of yourself are you willing to give up to achieve your goals?"

Aldric brought the conversation back to Nephis directly.

With a widened eye, she let out a scoff. 

"I guess we are similar in that sense. Have a safe night."

She left as quietly as she came with much more to think about.

With the conversation over, they did not notice a lone shape dart back into the shadow of the bonfire.

----------

The sky was enveloped in a dune of emptiness. The city landscape was covered in complete darkness as if it were night.

Even though it was roughly past noon, the sun was nowhere to be found. Completely hidden behind the dark clouds. 

Aldric could feel warm blankets around his body as someone carried him around. His head was facing towards the sky. 

"What a weird day." 

An elated voice spoke above him. 

As if the phenomenon that their ancestors would mark as the end of times was not occurring. 

It seemed that nothing could affect her mood.

The lady hummed a soft lullaby that lulled Aldric to sleep.

----------

Aldric woke up after the odd dream. Knowing that he should not be dreaming while in the dream realm, he gave it some thought.

It felt more like a memory. Picked from the depths of his mind. 

It was reminiscent of when he had received parts of the memories of when Aldric Vesper was younger. Glimpses of his past with his parents; however, this one felt ancient in comparison. 

'What was a dark day?' He thought.

Dark days were days when sunlight did not reach through the earth's atmosphere. He remembered being taught this back home when talking about the aftermath of volcanic eruptions where ash would completely block out sunlight.

It also had religious meaning to the primitive humans who could not comprehend the science behind it. It symbolised the end of the world or the end of the gods. As if the gods had abandoned them for their transgressions.

'Was the Aldric of this world born on a dark day? Does that mean anything in the grand scheme?'

With a lack of information, he had no use in thinking any longer. 

He got up and left for breakfast.

Forming a circle and eating what was left over from yesterday's hunt. Sunny opened up the conversation. 

They spoke about what they would do when they returned to the waking world.

Cassie spoke of missing her parents and Caster told them of returning to his dad and clan.

Effie spoke on preparing for the second nightmare.

Kai talked about joining a masked singing competition and Sunny wanted to own a shop that awakened sold their spoils to.

Aldric was asked next about his aspirations.

"I grew up in an orphanage so I guess I would give a visit to the matron there. Past that, I want to become an archaeologist. I want to learn more about this mysterious, almost fantasy-like world in whichever way I can." 

The group nodded at his goals and Cassie offered him a soft smile. 

It was Nephis' turn and she spoke of a harrowing tale on returning to her mother.

----------

Sunny was walking with the group as they continued their journey through the nest.

He was thinking about the cohort. The strings of fate that were binding them together.

Nephis was like the sun. Giving him reprieve in its shadow.

Cassie was blinded by her flaw, only for him to have 2 pairs of eyes through his shadow.

Kai and his flaw work in tandem to create a deception-free friendship.

Nephis dreamed of destroying the nightmare spell whereas Effie saw it as a paradise. 

Caster did not fit in this chain of interconnected fates and ideals, as much as he tried to cling to Nephis. Sunny had felt as if he was portraying a fake persona to everyone he met.

However, Aldric did and did not. He was an anomaly.

The dichotomy between his darkness and Nephis' light. They seemed like equals and opposites. 

Cassie's strange closeness with him. 

Other times, he forgot he was there. Maybe because of his surprise addition and not knowing him. He didn't know. 

Sunny dropped the thought to focus on the task ahead.

They had travelled far from the marble arch, traversing through the nest of the spiders. As they went deeper through it, the creatures got bigger and stronger. The battlefield was more hazardous. 

With thin steel wires roped around the area, the cohort was covered in cuts and tears in their armour. With the help of Nephis, they did not fall behind schedule.

They had arrived at the heart of the nest.

**********

Thanks for reading once more.

We are now in the 30s and we have a lot more to cover. Feeling good about it so far.

When I was planning this story, I wanted to give Aldric a sacred ranked aspect that would evolve to a divine later. I planned to make him work for it because every fanfic I read before gave their oc's a divine aspect. Changed my mind last minute because of having to wait until finishing the second nightmare to evolve aspect. 

Just some lore for those interested.

Take care people.

Till the next one.